Knitting machine with a device for guiding and adjusting the needles



Aug. 23, 1955 E. HAFNER 2,715,823

KNITTING MACHINE WITH A DEVICE FOR Y GUIDING AND ADJUSTING THE NEEDLES Filed Aug. 12, 1952 Rm mm M H n r a M E 65 I Q man United States Patent OfiFice 2,715,823 Patented Aug. 23, 1955 KNITTING MACHINE WITH A DEVICE FOR GUIDING AND ADJUSTING THE NEEDLES Ernest Hafner, St. Albans, N. Y., assignor to Dubied Machinery Company, Long Island City, N. Y.

Application August 12, 1952, Serial No. 303,894

Claims priority, application Switzerland August 17, 1951 2 Claims. (Cl. 66-66) Jacquard flat knitting machines are known which are constructed in such a way for adjusting the needles to different levels (by means of their heels) that after the thread has been fed into the needles the stepped pushers driven forward in working position are in each case returned so far that the needle heels are moved or forced out of the switch cam only by the lowermost steps of the pushers, in order that the knocking over of the loops takes place while the needles are equally tensioned.

Also, flat knitting machines are known, in which the needles are associated with sinkable supports to enable the needles to be switched in and out; thereby the needle supports form separate groups with stroke abutments lying in various rows acted upon by abutment bar elements of which one is provided for each group of needle supports.

Furthermore, Jacquard fiat knitting machines are known having each one intermediate part shiftable in the switch cams, which part is swung by auxiliary cam elements and thereby presses the spring needles out of the needle bed.

In contradistinction to the above and in order to avoid as well different tension effects on the needles as a stepwise adjustment of the needles and hooks, respectively, during the thread feeding, the knitting machine according to the invention, which machine comprises a device for guiding and adjusting the needles within the needle bed, is provided with needle guides each swingingly and slidably supported in said needle bed at several points of its length, each of said needle guides being adapted to cooperate with a stationary loop former on one hand, with intermediate webs provided in the needle bed, and with a usual jacquard device on the other hand, and said needle guides each having projections extending over front and rear portions of a shank of a needle, the needle guides and consequently the needles being adjustable into various inclined positions with respect to the surface of the needle bed by means of the jacquard device.

Suitably, the needles will be adjustable to patternconforming inclined positions with respect to the needle bed surface both on their forward and on their backward movement.

Further, the construction of the said device preferably is such that both a reliable guidance and a firm positioning of the needles in the longitudinal, vertical, and horizontal direction is ensured by means of the needle guides which cooperate with the stationary loop former, with the intermediate webs and with the jacquard device.

In the drawing, an embodiment of the invention in connection with a Jacquard flat knitting machine is represented, by way of example, so far as required for a clear understanding of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a cross-section through the needle bed, the needle and the needle guide being in their uppermost position with respect to the needle bed surface,

Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the needle bed, the needle and the needle guide being in their lowermost position with respect to the needle bed surface,

Fig. 3 is a top view of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a cross' section at enlarged scale along the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

The numeral 1 designates the needles, 2 are the movable needle guides which have projections 3 and 4 extending over the needles 1 for securing the needles in their guideways; 5 is a cross bar which at its upper, free longitudinal edge is formed as jacks or a stationary loop former, and 6 designates the intermediate webs provided in the needle bed, which webs are crossed by transverse holding pins 7 and 8 for the needle guides 2. The numeral 9 designates a jacquard roll, 10 the pattern card, 11 the associated selection parts and 12 their operating rail of known kind.

The operation is as follows:

The movable needle guides 2 and accordingly their needles 1 are adjusted in known manner according to pattern, either by hand or in the given example by means of the selection parts 11 from the punched jacquard card 10 held by the jacquard roll 9. The various stroke positions of the needle guides 2 are brought about by the selection parts 11, the three steps provided at the heels of the latter cooperating with corresponding perforations in the jacquard card 10, the heel of each individual selection part 11 not entering, or entering by its low, intermediate or high step, an opening of the jacquard card 10. Close over the heels of the needles 1 distributed according to pattern, the known needle locks (not shown) are arranged which may selectively either be brought into the desired working position or be rendered inoperative. Conesquently, the needles may be for instance inoperative, when the needles 1 occupy the inclined position A (Fig. 2), or, with the needles occupying one of the inclined positions B, C or D, the tuck stitches or ordinary stitches or stitch transfers or additions may be effected.

The fact that the movable needle guides 2 have projections 3 and 4 for securing the needles in the patternconform inclined positions A to D, warrants that the needles are subjected to tension-free slide motion both, for forward and for backward movement. No needle covering plates or additional locks are required for this, and therefore the respective machine parts are not subjected to additional friction and consequent wear.

The arrangement of the holding pins 7 and 8 for the movable guides 2 permits a reliable adjustment of the latter to any of the inclined positions provided by the pattern. The movable needle guides 2 thereby cooperate with the respective needle 1 and the stationary loop former 5 as well as with the intermediate webs 6 in such a way that both reliable guidance and a firm mounting in the longitudinal, vertical and horizontal directions is ensured for the needles, so that stepwise adjustment of the needles or needle hooks during the thread feeding and therefore any irregular loop formation is avoided.

I claim:

1. A knitting machine with a device for guiding and adjusting its forwardly and backwardly movable needles, comprising a plurality of needle guides, a needle bed, intermediate webs provided in said needle bed and a stationary loop former and a usual jacquard device, each of said needle guides being swingingly and slidably supported in said needle bed at several points of its length and adapted to cooperate with said loop former on the one hand, with said intermediate webs and with said usual jacquard device on the other hand, and said needle guides each having projections positioned relative to front and rear portions of a shank of a needle, said projections extending over the shank of such needle.

2. A knitting machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the needle guides cooperate with the stationary loop former, with the intermediate webs and with the jacquard device to insure a reliable guidance and a firm positioning v UNITED STATES PATENTS 355,933 Lamb Jan. 1 1, 1887 Lippit May 11,- 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1888 Germany Feb. 2, 1929 

